Work it out!
by Lady Snowflake
Summary: Stephanie dares Ranger to a week of workouts her style...
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Work (it) out!  
Chapter 1: Step up!**  
**Author: Ann**  
**Rating:** (G to NC-17): G  
**Spoilers/Warnings: After EOT**  
**Summary: Ranger does a week of working out Stephanie style**

**Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine. For more information on the workout-programs: **

**I thought of this story while I was working out in the gym this morning. I thought it would be fun to get Ranger to do my work-out schedule for a change! And for added effect I substituted myself for Stephanie. So really separate from the books and other stories., here's a little fun for all of us! Hope it gives encouragement to go to the gym if you need it J. **

**PS: the description of the program is the current program of Les Mills, so anybody participating in these programs: you know what I mean! J**

**Step up!**

Stephanie couldn't believe her eyes when she walked into the instruction room of her gym on Monday morning. Ranger was standing there, talking to the instructor! So he was actually going to do it! She couldn't help but feel a mix of excitement, fear and humour. Whatever happened in the next hour, it would make her laugh for years to come. She had no doubt about that!

Last week they had gotten into a discussion about the differences in their workout programmes. According to Ranger, the only way to get fit was through running and lifting weights. She had argued that a balanced workout, containing muscle training in some form and cardio workouts could be just as effective as and maybe even better than doing the same things day in day out. The reason they had been "able" to discuss workout schedules had been for two reasons. First of all, Stephanie had noticed that she came closer and closer to death in her adventures, and realised she really liked to find out what life had in store for her even after 35. Secondly, Ranger had made it clear that all his employees had to have a basic level of fitness. And since she still worked for him (the money was good, the hours even better and view was the best) she had tried to work out in the company gym. But soon she realised that she didn't like the individual aspect of it. She missed people around her, music and fun. So she signed up at a gym near the office and learned all about Les Mills and his group lessons. Her trainer explained to her that 4 times a year there would be new programs, enabling her to get to know a program, but change before it got boring. She tried a few and had now fallen into a comfortable routine. She started her day at 8 am, worked until 9.45 and walked to the gym. Her classes were from 10 to 11 am, after which she took a quick shower and walked back to the office to start work again at 11.30. She worked until 6 pm and was finished for the day. She had made a deal with Ranger that, since he had wanted her to get fit, 30 minutes of the workout were paid and 30 minutes were her own time. He had agreed so easily that she realised he thought she wouldn't keep it up. But he had been proven wrong. It had been tough at the beginning, but now she had gotten to know a few people in each group and made some new friends. She liked the music and the workouts and had noticed the results as well. She had more energy, felt happier about herself, and most importantly: all clothes fitted her body without a problem.

But Ranger had not agreed with her argument for variation. She had retorted that he didn't know what he was talking about: he had never done anything else except running and weights. Than she had added with a very meaningful glance at him: you can only know for sure if you try it…. He had looked at her long and hard and than his phone had rung and he had walked away from her cubicle. She hadn't seen him for the rest of the week, and she hadn't given it another thought. But here he was, dressed in workout gear, talking to Eve, the trainer. She seemed very happy for him to join the class, even though he wasn't a member of the club. Monday was BodyStep day. And since the class had been running for a few weeks now, most participants were familiar with the choreography. Ranger had never done this before, so Steph couldn't help but smile. Ranger would have a hard time keeping up with this class!

He had placed his step next to hers while smiling at her. She noticed that he had put his step into the higher position. The advice to beginners was always to start low, and to build up from there. But he probably assumed that, since he was in such good shape, he didn't need to start low. Well, good for him.

The devilish grin on Stephanie's face didn't bode well for me. I still was wondering what I was letting myself into. When she had dared me, I couldn't respond due to an emergency call that had led me to Florida. After a few very busy days I had spent the weekend with my daughter and talked to my ex. She was a fitness trainer and had said that Les Mills was a good workout program. When I had explained to her what I was up to she had first laughed her head off and then offered to show me some moves and programs, so I at least knew what I was supposed to do. I had still doubted my decision until this morning when I saw Stephanie come in with her gym bag as usual. I just had to give it a try. I hoped it would also bring us closer. Morelli had been out of the picture for ages now, at least in the love area. They were spotted at ballgames, cinema and Pino's, but never more than friendly talk happened. My sources had told me that they had called the relation quits and lived happily ever after… as friends. I was very happy about that news, but due to many things I hadn't been able to approach Stephanie for a date. Also, with her newfound confidence and even better looking body, she attracted lots of men, and first dates were a regular occurrence now. Luckily for me, not many second or third dates happened, but she obviously wouldn't sit around and wait for me. Now, there was a first! I had underestimated her more than once, and I hoped that by doing her workout for a week (even if it started as a dare), she would see that I do take her seriously and was very happy with her for getting into shape. During the discussion I had realised that she had gathered quite some knowledge about fitness, health and food and I was secretly proud of her for taking her body so seriously for a chance. Didn't stop her from eating enough fast food and tasty cakes though, but well, that was Stephanie. So here I was, Monday morning at 10 am standing in a gym with only women around me and a step in front of me. Inside I was panicking, desperately trying to remember the steps that my ex had showed me. Outside I looked cool and completely at ease. I think everybody was fooled except Stephanie.

The warm up started and I could keep up most of the time. Eve, the instructor, announced the new moves right before they started so I could anticipate. Despite that, I still missed out on a few things because I would turn the wrong way or didn't know what she meant exactly. I just tried to copy everything that Eve did. The step was higher than it looked, and a few times I almost tripped. Steph seemed to enjoy herself thoroughly and she moved right in time with Eve. She seemed to know every move. Side to side, tap up tap down, hamstring curl. I felt jealous.

The first 4 tracks all flowed into one another, which usually left me standing and looking lost at Eve. Eve was so kind to encourage me with: keep up, Carlos! I flashed 200 Watts her way, and was happy to see that she missed the next step. Take that! However, my Babe next to me wasn't missing a beat. She stepped with the best of them, and looked like she enjoyed it too. Corner to corner, T-step, kick. Why did I ever think this was a good idea?

Track 5 was sort of fun if you liked basketball, and I did like to play on occasion with the guys. It contained jumps and shots, well, the movements anyway. But mixed with all these difficult steps in between, I was still lost. I was sweating heavily by now, and was glad that the step was in it's lower position now. This track was not so fast, so I did manage to do a lot of the steps right. I almost felt proud of myself. But track 6 was fast again and I felt my head spin. Oh, when did this stop? Jump up, turn step, knee up.

With track 7 finally a track arrived that I could follow. The moves were much slower now, aimed at muscle strength rather than cardio. And suddenly I could feel that my legs had gotten quite a workout already. When I run (and yes, I did run my usual 5 miles this morning due to gross underestimation) I keep a constant pace usually. On occasion I would do interval, but not that often. I realised that the continuous change in pace during this steps lesson had made me feel more tired than after my run. Mmm, maybe Steph had been on to something when she started the discussion. I did like the music and the trainer wasn't bad to look at either. I could see why Steph liked this better than working out in the gym. She liked to be among people. When the next track started I didn't know what hit me. Eve did say it would be the "party step" and now I knew why. They were all dancing while working out. And it went fast. Luckily I am good at dancing and fast on my feet, but I did turn the wrong way a few times. When I looked at Steph she smiled at me. She was happy. Squad, chachacha, side tap.

I thought it couldn't get much worse, but it did with track 9, the speed step. I can move fast, but that is only useful if you know which move you need to make. More often than not, I had no clue. I just kept up the best I could. Eve gave me another couple of words of encouragement: keep moving, if it goes to fast for you, just do it behind the step! I smiled my 'thanks' (too fast, how dare she say that!) hoping she would get her legs in a twist, but that didn't happen. I could almost her Steph laughing next to me. I tried to sneak a glance at the clock. Another 15 minutes to go. Save me! Luckily everything ends, and so did the speed step. Now we were having our last Power peak. Eve looked at me and said: you'll be able to follow this one without a problem, it's just this and this. Indeed, I recognised the steps from other tracks. She didn't say it was a very long song, or that we had to move our arms as well. I was out of breath, sweat trickling down my front and back, but I made it. Over the top, repeater, basic step.

But I got my revenge at the last track before cooling down. This track was for the arms and stomach. No need to say I beat them all… thank god, because my self confidence needed a boost. I swear I heard Steph mutter a "show off" next to me, but that didn't bother me. The cooling down ended this 60 minute torture. Afterwards Eve wanted to know what I thought of it, and I could see Steph lingering to hear what I would say. The words interesting, intensive and different were all I could come up with, without lying through my teeth. Never again, impossible and horrible were more along the line of my thoughts, but I didn't want to upset anybody, since I had to come back another 4 days at least to win my discussion with Stephanie.

Stephanie was laughing on the inside. She couldn't help it. Deep inside, she admired Ranger for stepping up to her challenge and actually trying it. He had had almost a frown of concentration on his forehead throughout the hour and had tried very hard to keep up. He seemed to be completely oblivious to the ladies behind him who had drooled over his lovely backside. Especially during track 7, in which there were lots of squads, their eyes had been glued to him. He got his revenge during the abdominal/arms track, so he did end on a high. She wondered if he would leave it at this, or continue tomorrow. Then it was time for something a little bit more up his alley: BodyCombat…

Tell me what you think!

Tracks used in this BodyStep:

**BODYSTEP® 64** **(June 2006)**

**1**

Start Me Up

DJ Denzi

**2**

Love Is A Crime (Thunderpuss Club Mix)

Anastacia

**3**

Life Is A Highway

Rhythm Twins

**4**

Gloria

KopyKatz

**5**

Slam Dunk (Da Funk)

Maximum

**6**

Let's Go

Pure Essence

**7**

Crazy Chick (Kardinal Beats Krazy Club Remix)

Charlotte Church

**8**

Dance Dance (The Mexican) Hex Hector Club Mix

Thalia

**9**

Great Gosh A'mighty

Southern Light

**10**

This Is How A Heart Breaks (Ford Club Mix)

Rob Thomas

**11**

Something (Buzz Kitchen Mix)

Silosonic

**12**

Stickwitu

The Pussycat Dolls


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: Work (it) out!  
Chapter 2: Fight it!**  
**Author: Ann**  
**Rating:** (G to NC-17): G  
**Spoilers/Warnings: After EOT**  
**Summary: Ranger does a week of working out Stephanie style**

**Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine. For more information on the workout-programs: **

**Here is the second chapter of my story. I was working out in the gym this morning again, and thought Ranger would have a little bit more fun with this training than with the first! So really separate from the books and other stories, here's a little fun for all of us! Hope it gives encouragement to go to the gym if you need it J. **

**PS: the description of the program is the current program of Les Mills, so anybody participating in these programs: you know what I mean! J**

**Fight it!**

Stephanie hadn't seen Ranger all morning, so she was wondering if he was going to come today too, or if he would come up with an excuse why he didn't make it today. She did think today would be much more to his liking, and wondered if it was actually safe to let him participate today. After all, they would be making fight moves, but he was not allowed to touch anybody. Contact between persons was strictly forbidden. But she wasn't disappointed when she entered the room: Ranger was talking to their teacher for this hour, Rick. Even Rick, who was quite a big and very fit guy, seemed to be intimidated by Ranger. It was obvious that he was wondering why Ranger wanted to take this class. Hihi, he would never guess. Mary and July, who had also taken the steps lesson yesterday walked up to her to great her.

"Look, he's back!" Mary was obviously enthusiastic about adding Ranger to the lesson. Well frankly, who wasn't? Only straight men didn't like it probably…

"Do you know who he is? I have never seen him until yesterday." July looked appreciatively at Rangers body. Stephanie was balancing her options. Saying she knew Ranger would probably lead to a lot of pushing to introduce Mary and July to him. Also, they would start asking questions about him, and most of them she wouldn't been able to answer anyway. However, if she said that she didn't know him and Ranger would suddenly walk up to her to say hi, she would look stupid. And it did kind of make her feel good to say that she knew the guy that every women in the room, no scratch that, in the whole gym, was lusting after. Ranger solved her 'problem' when he walked up to her.

"Looking good, Babe." He smiled and she heard Mary and July grasp for air.

"Enjoyed yesterdays workout?" she asked sweetly. He was only trying to show off, so she felt the need to remind him of yesterday.

He just gave her a look and then Rick announced the beginning of the lesson.

'Okay, here we go' was all I could think when Rick took up his position in front of the class. From what Rick and my ex told me, this would be a class that I would be able to do. I of course knew all the moves by heart, the only thing that was new to me would be the sequence in which I had to do them. And I was a fast learner when it came to that, so I was actually looking forward to this. It gave me the opportunity to impress Stephanie. Yesterday after the lesson had ended, she had walked off together with 2 women. They were in this class too, and were very interested in me. I wasn't in them, but well, what can I do about it? However, I hoped that today I could catch her before she disappeared into the locker room, just to chat. Since we saw each other almost every day, we didn't speak to each other a lot outside of the office. And since my building had cameras everywhere, it seriously limited physical contact. No more heated kisses in the alley anymore, and I missed it. I hoped that, by talking to her in the gym, we would find a topic that had nothing to do with work and she would not see me as her boss for a few minutes, but as a nice guy. The nicest guy in the world, that is.

With BodyCombat we always faced the mirror, so we could see our moves and make sure we did it right. However, mirrors also give a wonderful opportunity to spy on other people. I was looking at Ranger, admiring him in his workout gear today. He was wearing black (of course) sweatpants that had straight legs and a black sleeveless t-shirt. He looked delicious. The t-shirt was loose fitting, so when he moved, part of his stomach and wonderful abs were visible. The warming up consisted of a kata, followed by the basic moves for today. Ranger, of course, did them to perfection. When Rick announced that we would have to pick our imaginary opponent for our first fight, we looked at each other in the mirror. I would have to admit that more than once, he was my imaginary opponent. Sometimes because he had said something that had pissed me off, sometimes because it was fun to imagine beating the shit out of Ranger. Never going to happen in real life, so this was the next best thing. Today, however, Lester was my imaginary opponent, since he had been bothering me all morning with questions and assignments. He deserved a good kick in the butt. Or in my mind anyway. Shuffle, jab, back fist.

The next 3 tracks were aimed at muscle strength and endurance. First we had to make moves forward and then shuffle for another series of kicks and punches sideward and then back again. Also, we were not allowed to stand still, so in between kicks and punches we would either jump or shuffle. And we did lots of jump kicks. Ranger jumped and kicked higher than anybody else and attracted so much attention that Mary almost kicked my ass because she was looking at Ranger while she was doing her jump kick in stead of looking ahead of her! For the 4th track, we formed a circle. We had to shuffle towards each other while doing 3 punches and then shuffle backwards, punching 3 times with the other arm. Before we switched to the left hand side, we had to make a few exhausting jumps, namely jump and turn your body half so your other side is facing forward. We repeated this sequence a few times and ended with some more jumping and endurance exercises. Ranger seemed to really like it. The teacher was standing opposite him in the circle, and I was sure that some serious challenging was going on between them. The 5th track was more about working with your arms, so lots of fast punches. It showed Rangers arms off beautifully. Scissors, elbow, jump kick.

We got some time to breathe when we started with track 6. We did different kicks and punches, but slowly, so we could perfect our technique and build muscle strength. More squads to show of Rangers butt, eh I mean, to train your legs. After a while I noticed that more and more people were following Ranger's moves in the mirror, and not Ricks. He had a natural way of attracting attention and he was 100 in control of his body. After the first minute, only Ranger looked at Rick and we all looked at Ranger. Rick didn't seem to notice until Ranger made a mistake and we all did it too. Oops… Luckily, Rick didn't mind and just gave us a little yell to get the attention back to him. Personally, track 7 was one of my favourites. It was the Muay Thai, and consisted of moves in which your hands were open in stead of fisted. Speed was important now and I could feel myself getting tired but in a good way. There was this one series of 3 elbows left to right, then a move upwards and then 6 knee lifts, all done at great speed. It was fun and I always smiled during this track. I caught Ranger's eye, and he was smiling too. I was so distracted I almost hit myself with the upward move, and then quickly focused on my own reflection in the mirror again. Roundhouse kick, cross legs, body shot.

Track 8 was the last track before the abdominal crunches. Just lots of kicking and punching. Let it all go, so to say. Everybody had sweat trickling down their face, but it seemed we all tried to take that extra step when such an attractive man was around. Mmm, interesting thought: how much more calories would be burned by adding attractive men and women to the training? But let's not go there. I joined this gym not only because I like the group lessons and the training method, but also because no Rangeman was around. Especially in the beginning, it was very hard for me just to complete a lesson. And all the guys at Rangeman were in such good shape that I had felt intimidated and unable to relax and enjoy the workout. At this gym, I had lots of women around me. I could hide in the back if I felt like it and could make mistakes without anybody saying anything. We all made mistakes here, we were namely human! We cheered each other on and all of us looked lost when the new choreography for steps was released. At Rangeman, they were all highly trained, and that didn't do much for me. No room for error. So having Ranger around for a week would be fun, but I hoped he wouldn't sign up.

Wow, that must have been the first thing in my life where I didn't want him around… go figure! Upper cut, back kick, cross jab.

The last track before the cooling down was the abs track. And jeez, did they try to kill you with that one! It was long, fast and hard. It started with simple up and down, then our legs fell to one side, then we would extend our legs and retract them. And it just kept on going and going. But Ranger had a field day. We were all in a circle again and Ranger had managed to position himself opposite me, so every time I moved up, I could see him. He was smiling (as the only one) and completed the track without a problem. The rest of us mortals were grimacing at the end, and many of us sighed in relief when we were finally done. Cooling down was always nice, you had completed something and felt good about yourself. The song was one I normally wouldn't listen to because it was sort of soft, but I had found a new appreciation for it since this class had started. Also, listening to the words, it was a bit related to Ranger and me. After our night together and the following morning I had had one of the best and worst experiences in my life. I had backed out of the relationship with Morelli, even though that had turned out okay in the end, and I was afraid of getting close to anybody again. I looked at him, and could see him contemplating the words. He looked a bit sad. I felt a bit sad.

Afterwards Rick had asked Ranger a question, so Mary and July looked at me trying to send me a vibe. Probably they hoped I would introduce them to Ranger. Outside the room they both opened their mouth to start the questioning when I said:

"Listen, he's my employer, that's how I know him. And I don't know him that well."

"Now Babe, we both know that ain't true." He was laughing and I glared at him. He introduced himself to Mary and July, who suddenly couldn't find any words and then he grabbed my arm and lead me towards the locker room.

"Want to have a drink in the bar after we shower?" The words we and shower made me feel hot again.

"I thought you didn't drink?"

"A fruit cocktail." Ah, of course.

"Sure, see you there."

Even before I had my hands on the door to the women's locker room, July and Mary had caught up with me and started their questioning once again. Now here was another reason why I wouldn't like Ranger to join my fitness club!

To be continued with my Wednesday workout hour of BodyBalance!

Music used in this BodyCombat:

**BODYCOMBAT® 28 (June 2006)\**

**1**Listen To Your HeartColorBoxTroublePink

**2**The Final CountdownHeavyDance

**3**Come With Me (Hixxy Remix)Special D

**4**Push It AgainDJ Lawless vs Oliver Swab

**5**HymnTina Cousins

6Hung UpSBI

**7**FightKopyKatz

**8**Reach OutMaximum

**9**SwitchWill Smith

**10**Because Of YouKelly Clarkson


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: Work (it) out!  
Chapter 3: Be flexible!**  
**Author: Ann**  
**Rating:** (G to NC-17): G  
**Spoilers/Warnings: After TS**  
**Summary: Ranger does a week of working out Stephanie style**

**Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine. For more information on the workout-programs: **

**Here is the third chapter of my story. I was working out in the gym this morning again, and was actually wondering how Ranger would perform on this one! So really separate from the books and other stories, here's a little fun for all of us! Hope it gives encouragement to go to the gym if you need it J. **

**PS: the description of the program is the current program of Les Mills, so anybody participating in these programs: you know what I mean! J**

**Be flexible!**

When I came into the office that morning, I found an email from Ranger in my inbox. It read: looking forward to today's workout. Mmm, did that mean that he knew what today's workout was about? Yesterday, after class we had spent about 30 minutes talking over 2 juices. It had been really nice and relaxed. I had the feeling I was a little more up to date with his life again, even though I knew I probably only knew about 10 of what really was going on, but that didn't matter. He had volunteered some information, and that had made me feel good. He told me about some of the business decisions he had made, and had a funny story about a new client that had come on strong towards him. He actually asked me for advice on how to deflect hands without using violence or making it too obvious… I couldn't help but laugh at that question. Then I told him that I would show him some of my moves in a more private surrounding. His eyes had looked hot and he had answered that he would keep me to that. When we came back into the office, I had received some questioning looks and as soon as Ranger left the room, Lester had started prying. But I had said nothing. For some reason I had no need to enlighten them of our little bet. Probably because I was afraid that they would want to try it too… Lester had more than once said that the only thing he missed in this company were women. Especially in the gym… And the thought of having not 1 but 4 or 5 hot guys joining me might be good for business for the gym, but did nothing to improve my workout! It would simply throw me off balance.

Today was BodyBalance day, and I was curious to see Ranger do this. He seemed to be Zen calm on occasion, but he never mentioned something about how he got that Zen calm. I always assumed that he would have a private place where I could find a little yoga mat, candles, calming music and Ranger with his legs in his neck, but today I would get to see if that was possible or not.

We actually came out of the locker rooms at the same time and walked to the class room together.

"You know today's class?"

"Yes, my ex explained it to me." Huh!

"Your ex?"

"Yeah, I was in Florida last week for business and also went to see my daughter. My ex is fitness trainer and I mentioned your challenge and she gave me a quick education on Les Mills."

"I see." We smiled at each other and took up our positions in the room.

Today's trainer was Zoë. She was a very nice and outgoing woman and very fit. Her body had a perfect shape. I always felt a bit jealous of her. But she was one of my favourite trainers and made a lot of jokes during training. She usually gave BodyPump, and today was filling in for Eve, who was sick. She greeted me and a few regulars and asked if anybody was new today. I looked at Ranger to see if he would raise his hand. He didn't, which made me believe he wasn't new to Yoga and so on. Zoë had seen me looking at Ranger and looked at him with a questioning glance. He just shook his head no.

"You're not new?" Zoe always checked twice.

"No, just new to this gym." Mmmm…

"Pity, I would have given you some extra attention." The fun thing about Zoë was that she didn't even mean it in a flirting way. She simply paid him a compliment and was smiling at the whole class when she continued.

"Well ladies, a nice addition to our gym, don't you think?" Ranger glared at Zoë and she just smiled back.

"I'm Zoë, and I'm the trainer for today. What's your name?"

"Ranger." Ah, street name. Probably trying to scare her off.

"Welcome to the club, Ranger. Let's start." We all took up the starting position and Zoë turned the music on.

I wasn't completely new to the yoga/tai chi thing. When I had entered the army, I had had a little bit of a temper. It meant that I had spent quite some time cleaning toilets with teeth brushes so to say. Luckily I was smart and learnt to keep my mouth shut soon enough, but the temper was still there. So when I entered more advanced training, we also got more training on mental aspects of combat. And relaxation techniques had been part of it. Also, I had had a mentor who had soon realised my potential in the army but knew that my biggest weakness would be my temper. So he spent hours and hours training me on keeping my head cool. He had gone to extreme lengths, but at the end I was extremely grateful for it. It had saved my life more than once. Also, good training schemes had stretching in it, and to be honest I sort of hoped it would help me out here. I am not the most flexible person physically speaking, so I hoped I could keep up without overstretching anything.

The introduction was easy to do. Moving side to side while doing little stretching moves. That I could do. Zoe was a nice woman with a stunning body. That woman worked out alright. And she was a good trainer, telling us what to do on time and also explaining what to look out for. She did look at me quite often, but I had the feeling that was more to prevent injury than to check me out. Now there's a first. While the music continued, the moves became more complex and more demanding. Everything we did had a name, so I learned about the cobra, warrior stances and tree pose. So far so good! Stephanie next to me seemed to be in her own world really. Completely focused on herself, she made a very pretty picture. On occasion she would even have a frown across her forehead.

Yesterday we had a nice chat. I told Steph a little bit about myself, to show to her that I did like to talk to her privately, and not just business. And to show her that I was indeed human, and not Batman, I had told her the story of the new client who had tried to get her hands all over me right after the contract had been signed. Then I had asked her how to get away from groping hands, realising that she must had had to deal with her fair share when she did a distraction job for me. She had smiled and her face had lit up. Then she said she would show me when we were somewhere more private. I 100 intended to keep her to that. She had looked at me like she didn't believe me. I wasn't sure if she thought I didn't really mind wandering hands from other women, or whether she thought I didn't really need her help with deflecting the hands. I sincerely hoped the last, since I was a very private person and absolutely did not appreciate somebody getting into my private space without my permission. Today I would ask her to have dinner with me tonight in my apartment, and then I hoped the right opportunity would come by for her to show me how to deflect those hands. I think it would mean I got to put my hands on her in not so decent ways, and I was really looking forward to that!

Zoë moved on to the next section of the lesson, which she explained was for standing strength. This I liked. It required quite some concentration and strength and I possessed both. I could feel some muscles straining, not used to this week of unusual work outs. Maybe Steph was right about getting into better shape by doing different things. After the standing strength we moved on to balances. This was harder. It had been a long time since I did something like that. We started on one leg, slowly lifting it of the ground sideways, then turning it so it was behind us, ending in an aeroplane stance, arms wide and leg straight behind us. Then, without touching the floor we had to move from the aeroplane figure to a tree pose, in which our leg curled around the other and our arms were also curled around each other. Weird names, but a good workout none the less. I glanced at Stephanie who made a perfect tree pose. She looked so beautiful. Today she wore long workout pants, dark blue with a white line at the side. She also wore a same coloured top, which exposed her belly when she moved her arms up. It turned me on big time. It matched her eyes and…

All eyes turned to Ranger when he almost dropped to the floor while still making the tree pose. I couldn't help but my mind flashed this image of a tree falling down. He did of course manage to save himself before dropping to the floor, his reflexes were still fast, but I did wonder what had happened for him to fall like that. Zoë asked if he was alright and he just nodded. I looked at him and he flashed me a quick smile. I felt myself get warm inside and felt that I was turning into a swaying tree myself. Oops. When I was a stable tree again Ranger looked at me and I could read his eyes: now you know what happened. I looked around me to see which woman had given him that reaction, but then he whispered a soft 'Babe' and realised it had been me. I felt myself blushing a little bit, but I could also feel the smile forming on my face. This was great! He could survive 6 bullets but a little yoga with me made him drop to the floor like a bag of potatoes. I got an incredible warm feeling inside and hoped he would have time for a drink in the bar afterwards again.

After the balancing part we went to the stretching part. We basically twisted our bodies in any way possible. We started with 'hip openers' and later moved on to the rest of the body. I was pleased to see that I could stretch further than Ranger. He had an almost pained look on his face and Zoë more than once reminded us to gently stretch and not go over our boundaries. She looked at Ranger and said: 'it just takes time'. He grunted something back, which translated to me something like: 'yeah right.' Unbelievable: I could do something Ranger couldn't. It didn't matter what else would happen today, I had a good day. It wasn't that I was glad that he couldn't do it, but it made me feel good that there were still things that I could do that other people couldn't. It gave me a sense of achievement. Because I hadn't been exactly miss flexible either when I started this lesson, and now I suddenly realised how much progress I had made. And okay, it was extra nice that Ranger was the person who made me feel that way. Usually I felt slightly incompetent next to him, so this was a nice change. He got his revenge though when we did the exercise for abdominal strength, as it was so nicely called. We had to sit on our mat, put one leg over the other, lift ourselves up by putting our hands next to us and then lift our legs to our chest. It was impossible! Zoë and Ranger were to only two who could do it. After this little torture, we did more stretching, this time stretching all our muscles. This always felt good, because you knew you had survived another training. And this training ended slightly different. It ended with about 10 minutes of soft music in which we could meditate or simply relax ourselves. Most people would put on a sweater and socks so they wouldn't cool down too much. Ranger usually didn't sit still for long doing nothing, especially unarmed, in a gym he didn't know and with his back to the door in stead of the wall. I put my socks on and wrapped my towel around me and took up my usual position. I usually didn't lay down, but sat up with my back against the wall (yes, I wondered too where that came from…) legs pulled up in a comfortable position, just closing my eyes and enjoying the quiet music. I had happy thoughts most of the time, so it was a good way to end the workout. Ranger seemed unsure of what to do and ended up sitting next to me. Not that surprising, no. I smelled his delicious scent of Bulgari, a touch of sweat and unique Ranger. Mmm, nice! And gone where the relaxing happy thoughts, cue the hot, sweaty and sexual thoughts. I opened one eye and saw he was looking at me with hot eyes. He quickly checked that Zoë wasn't looking at us and then mouthed: have dinner with me. My one eye closed itself quickly while I contemplated that offer. It had been very nice yesterday, talking together. And I couldn't deny I still had feelings for him. I was never sure how deep these feelings went, because Ranger only shared a part of himself. But the part I had seen, I had like very much. And I was free to explore a relationship with anybody I wanted. Still, I wasn't sure. But then I felt my body liking that idea very much, feeling all warm and cosy inside, so I opened my one again to see Ranger still looking at me and mouthed back: okay. He smiled, relaxed a bit and his eyes started scanning the room. Habit, I suppose.

Afterwards we walked to the locker rooms together. I actually wanted to know if we were going out for dinner or having dinner at the 7th floor apartment. If he said we would go to Rossini's or something I would have to go home to change before going. I wouldn't feel comfortable sitting there in my working clothes. He sensed my question and turned to me.

"Is it okay to stay in the apartment? I have a meeting until 7.30 pm and an early start tomorrow."

"We can have dinner another day, if that suits you better."

"No, I like to have dinner with you. It's just that I thought it might be nice to have an informal dinner." I did like informal, away from prying eyes, just me and Ranger.

"Sure, no problem."

"I also would like to ask you a favour. Will you wait for me at the exit?" I was curious now.

"Okay, see you in about 15 minutes."

I showered and dressed in record time. I felt really good and slightly apprehensive. I was having dinner with Ranger tonight, but I was suspicious. He first had asked me to have dinner with him and then he had said he wanted to ask me a favour… Mmmmm….

To be continued with tomorrows workout: BodyPump!

Music used in this BodyBalance:

**BODYBALANCE™ 33** **(June 2006)**

**1**

Pilgrimage

Conjure One

**2**

World On Fire (Junkie XL Remix Edit)

Sarah McLachlan

**3**

Beautiful

Moby

**4**

Polovtsian Dances (Stranger In Paradise)

Joolz Gianni

**5**

Everybody's Changing

Keane

**6**

Come Together

Primal Scream

**7**

My Man

Santana feat. Mary J Blige and Big Boi

**8**

Always On Your Side

Sheryl Crow

**9**

Follow Me Home

Sugababes

**10**

Silent Wave

Emerald Green

**11**

Numero Uno

Mousse T


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: Work (it) out!  
Chapter 4: Full force!**  
**Author: Ann**  
**Rating:** (G to NC-17): G  
**Spoilers/Warnings: After TS**  
**Summary: Ranger does a week of working out Stephanie style**

**Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine. For more information on the workout-programs: **

**Number 4 in this series.** **Sorry for the delay, RL interfered with my plan. So really separate from the books and other stories, here's a little fun for all of us! Hope it gives encouragement to go to the gym if you need it J. **

**PS: the description of the program is the current program of Les Mills, so anybody participating in these programs: you know what I mean! J**

**Full force!**

When I woke up on Thursday morning, I was having the distinct feeling that something was wrong. This bed felt different from my own… It smelt different from my own… And that alarm was not my alarm. So where was I? I was struggling to get my memories back about last night. I remember walking back from the gym to the office with Ranger. There we went into his office and he told me about the favour he wanted to ask. It really wasn't too bad. He asked me if I would be okay with working one night a week until 10 pm. It meant I could start later that day, having a morning off. The reason he asked me was because he would like me to start doing some surveillance. He said I had a good instinct. Also, the occasional distraction job was usually done at night. He asked if it would be okay that the night wasn't fixed. In this line of work, things could come up at the last minute and it would help him a lot if he could ask me at the last moment. I said that it would be fine, as long as he understood that I would on occasion have something to do and couldn't always say yes. He understood that and we made the deal that I would try to change any plans if he needed me, and that he would have to accept that I couldn't always change my plans. After that we had chatted a little bit and then I went to my cubicle to continue my work.

I remember being in his apartment, waiting for him for dinner. He told me I could go up to the 7th floor at 6 and wait there for him. He had a meeting until 7.30 pm, and Ella would serve dinner around 8. I remembered the meal, it was lovely. For some reason I felt very relaxed. Usually I had always been nervous when I was around Ranger, but lately I had become more at ease with him. Maybe working with him 5 days a week had that effect… And maybe it was because I felt good about myself now. I loved my workouts in the gym, I liked my job, I had great friends and family and even my mother had calmed down about my career choice since I had steady employment now. Okay, I was still single, but she said that I was 'moving in the right direction'… Right… My grandmother couldn't stop talking about how I was working for that 'bounty hunter with the great package and the good looking employees', so life was good to me. And if Ranger wanted to take things to the next level, I wasn't about to stop him. Also, I wasn't about to say yes without a good conversation. If he was interested in me in a relationship-type way, than he needed to know that the secrecy had to drop down a level. I knew how important his privacy was, but he also knew after the latest adventure with his look-alike that I hadn't told anybody about his marriage and daughter. So he should have realised by now that I took his privacy seriously.

Thinking about last night I also remembered that Ranger had gotten a call. We had been sitting on the couch, just finished the meal, and were talking. I had the impression that he wanted to say something to me and was looking for the right moment when his cell went off. He had mumbled something under his breath that didn't need translation and answered the call. There was a huge problem somewhere and he needed to leave immediately to manage this situation. He had asked me to stay, said he hoped he would be back and that I was free to use the apartment. I remember watching television and…. that's it, really. But it could only mean one thing: I was in his bed! I quickly checked and saw I had all my clothes on, except for my shoes and socks. Mmm, if I was here, then where was Ranger? He must have been here sometime, to migrate me from the couch to the bed. But apparently he didn't stay. Pity, really. The alarm was still going, and I looked at it. It looked quite normal, contrary to many other high-tech gadgets, so I pressed a button which said: off. The beeping stopped. Excellent. I looked at the time, it was 5.45 am. This must be the time Ranger normally got up for his run. Way too early for me to get up, that's for sure. And since I already was in his bed, it was a little late to start worrying about it, so I snuggled up for another couple of hours of sleep.

I woke up at 7.00 am again, my normal time of getting up. And when I became fully awake I suddenly realised I had a problem. I had no clothes here! And no clean gym stuff. And this building had surveillance everywhere, so no way I would be able to go home without it being noticed. Shit, shit, shit, this would get me a lot of prying from the guys. Oh, hang on: with a bit of luck they all were working on this big incident, so they knew I didn't actually spend the night with Ranger. I simply slept in his apartment. Better, but still not really good. Anyway, I didn't want to work in yesterday's clothes and definitely needed new workout clothes, so home it would have to be. I dressed, grabbed my stuff and hurried out. When I was in my car, my cell rang. It was Ranger.

"Yo."

"Yo. You're leaving?"

"Yeah, I need clean clothes."

"Okay. See you at 8."

I was very curious what would be so important to keep Ranger up all night, and made it back into the office at 7.50. Ranger, Tank and Lester were standing in the hallway of the stairs. Since I had started to workout, I also had started to use the stairs. The elevator could take ages (I had a sneaky suspicion that that was on purpose) so I took the stairs now. I had to use the elevator to go to the 7th floor, and sometimes I took the elevator if I felt really tired and wanted a moment for myself. But not today. As soon as they heard me, they stopped talking and turned to look at me. They looked really tired, and it was clear that it had been a long night for all of them. Ranger was about to say something to me, when his cell rang. He answered it, listened and gave his usual short replies of yes, no, where, who and so on. During the conversation he looked at the Tank and Lester, and clearly ESP was going on. He signalled a few things with his hand to them, which I couldn't completely follow and then hung up. I wasn't sure if he still wanted to talk to me, so I decided to wait there until he would send me away. The fact that I was curious had absolutely nothing to do with it. He updated Tank and Lester on the call, and I got the impression it had something to do with kidnapping. Then he turned to me.

"Babe."

"Ranger." And I nodded to the others. They nodded back and then left. I could hear them give orders in the surveillance room. Something was up.

"Sorry about last night. The daughter of a client was kidnapped. We just got a lead and we'll be going out in a minute. I need your help here."

"Sure, what do you need me to do."

"Are you familiar with the communication system?" Rangeman had two-way and one-way communication systems. One-way was used during for instance distraction jobs to give information to the capture team, two-way was used to keep in touch with each other and with the office during all sorts of activities. I knew how it worked, Ram had shown me a few days ago to distract me from a particular unsuccessful search.

"Yeah, I know how it works."

"Good. I need you to pass on messages and information between teams. We'll be heading out with 3 teams. Ask Tank to explain it to you, I need to get ready." He was still wearing the white button-down shirt and dark grey suit from yesterday's meeting. The tie was off and the top buttons were open. He looked delicious, despite the fatigue showing in his face. I was momentarily distracted by his well-shaped ass as he ran up the stairs. After 5 steps he turned around, ran down the stairs again and I suddenly found myself in his embrace, being thoroughly kissed. I almost melted and started kissing back. This was a good way to start the day! But it ended just as fast as it started. He was still holding me in his embrace and he leaned his head against the side of my head.

"I had other plans for last night." He sighed. Hey, me too! He held me even tighter for a moment.

"Wish me luck," he whispered. I had the impression that this rescue mission was quite a dangerous one.

"Good luck." And then he was really gone.

The rest of the morning was just a blur. Tank gave me instructions, which I quickly wrote down so I could check. All the guys were getting ready for some serious action: full utility belts and bullet proof vests. All of them were wired for sound, and they all called in to ask me if I could hear them. The Trenton police was also involved, and I could also communicate with them. Cool! I was wearing a head set so I had my hands free to write down any information. Then a long line of black cars leaving the garage and the silence before the storm. Only 2 people were in the office: me and a new guy who was watching the monitors. I relayed some general information while they were still on their way to the location. I quickly understood the system. I had different buttons in front of me. Two complete rows only had buttons with a number, from 1 through 60. When I pushed button number 1 I could give Ranger a message. He would be the only one to hear it. Button 2 was Tank and so on. When all of the guys called in, I had written down their numbers and names, so I knew who was who. Then I had buttons for teams 1 through 10, so I could give a message to a particular team. And I could give messages to all at once. The police communication was done through different buttons, I wasn't surprised that Ranger wanted to keep the communication separate from the police at all times. His work method could be a little unorthodox. When they arrived at the location, Ranger gave his last instructions and then the action began. I was so focused that I didn't realise that it was finished about an hour later, until I heard Ranger in my ear saying:

"Babe, you did good."

"Message to who?" I asked automatically, my left hand hovering above the buttons.

"Message to you." I could hear him smiling.

"Oh, sorry. Thanks."

"We got the girl and the kidnappers. We're wrapping things up here. Please keep listening for information until we are back."

"Okay."

There was an atmosphere of celebration when they came back. Only Ranger and Tank were still talking to the family and the police, wrapping things up. They arrived about 90 minutes later, when the others were already back at work. I had heard the story by then from Lester and Bobby. Ranger, Tank, Lester and Bobby had gotten the girl, while the other teams had provided backup and caught a few kidnappers as well. The girl had been heavily guarded with 8 people, so all the teams made at least one capture. Ranger, Tank, Lester and Bobby each had taken a few hits, but ice would take care of that. Lester had also gotten a kick in the ribs, so he wouldn't be laughing a lot for a few days. Everybody went silent when Tank and Ranger appeared, still dressed for combat and both drinking a bottle of water they got from the fridge. They looked positively impressive. Ranger and Tank leaned back against the monitors and automatically, everybody gathered around them.

"Latest news: the girl is unharmed and united with her family. All the kidnappers have been captured and are currently being questioned by the police." Tank didn't use a lot of words, but the message was wonderful all the same. A few cheers were heard.

"Good work." Ranger at his best. Tank and Ranger got up and everybody went back to work, me included. It had been very exciting to be part of this operation, I felt proud of myself. I had never missed a message, nor given it to the wrong person. It was very hard to return to the daily routine of computer searches and I was glad when it was time to go to the gym. I didn't think Ranger would be there, but he caught up with me when I left the building.

"Babe."

"Hi! Didn't think you would come today."

"Why?" Mmm, let's see: you didn't sleep, you just took down 8 men and you have a lovely bruise on your cheek. Okay, this is Ranger we're talking about.

"Thought you might like to sleep a few hours." I would have!

"No, it's better not to break the pattern. Besides, I didn't get to run this morning, so I can catch up now." Health guru!

"Right." I minimised my eye roll. Today was his favourite day probably anyway. Today we would do BodyPump, which was basically lifting weights while listening to great music. Ranger would have no problem.

Despite the fact that I was very pleased with the way things turned out this morning, I was very disappointed about the dinner with Stephanie. I had hoped to steer the conversation into the direction of relationships, and the fact that we were both single at the moment and that my "no relationship rule" was no longer in use. It was a big step for me and it had taken me months to get to this point and for her to finally leave Morelli for good and then we had gotten interrupted. I did take it as a good sign the she hadn't been very nervous and that she had stayed in the apartment even after I left. Okay, she fell asleep on the couch, but that did indicate a certain level of comfort. Even though I felt tired and the left side of my face was throbbing, I wouldn't want to miss today's workout. It was already Thursday, and I wanted to tell Stephanie about my feelings before the week was over. I sort of had a plan for the weekend, but I could only put that plan into action if she knew how I felt about her. And returned the sentiment. Also, I wasn't the type of person to back out of a dare because I lost one night of sleep. So here we go. BodyPump.

The introduction was easy. Zoë was the trainer again today, and she gave some information about how much weight we could put on per exercise. I decided to take it easy today, I wasn't in top shape after a sleepless night and a take down. The next track was for the legs, which basically consisted only of squads. Stephanie held her own, she put on 6 kg on both sides, beating most of the women present in the lesson. I checked the 3 other guys that participated in the training and put on 2 kg more than they had. Hey, I'm still a man who wants to impress a woman. And I knew that my Babe would notice sooner or later. The same way that I noticed that the 3 guys were located rather close to her. Two were behind her, checking her butt every chance they got, and one was on the other side of her. My Babe amazed me every chance she got. Her spidey sense was almost better then my years of training, but 3 guys trying to impress her she didn't notice. Couldn't help but see that she did watch me on occasion. After legs it was chest. Usually I do sets of weights, repeating sets up to 3 times with a couple of minutes rest in between. This lesson was more aimed at endurance, so the exercise lasted longer than my sets, and I used less weight than I normally would. It was a pretty intense workout all the same. Back muscles next, no problem. It was nice to do things slightly different than usual. There were 3 different moves: row, dead lift and clean&press. Next up were the biceps followed by the triceps. During the biceps exercise I could see Stephanie looking at my arms. Years of hard training got me my body and I was proud of it. But she looked pretty hot herself!

The biceps exercise was one of my favourites. Not because it was so easy to do, but because it combined great music with the opportunity to check out the people around you while you were working out. And Ranger looked very good. You know, this guy is so trained that he seems to be able to think before any response, nothing is emotional anymore. He has so many skills that it almost scary, but he was completely oblivious to all the women checking him out. He did give a rather dark look to someone behind me, but when I turned to look, I only got a smile from the guy. No idea what that was about. I hated the triceps exercise. That muscle just didn't do it for me. But according to Zoë it would prevent us from getting floppy upper arms, so I gave it my best. The final 3 tracks were nice because you knew you were getting towards the end. First up were legs again, this time the front of the legs. Then the shoulders. I always thought that my shoulders would do great, but it turns out I didn't lift as many things above my head as I thought. I had started with a measly 1 kg in my first lesson, and made it to 2,5 kg now. And I was proud of that! There were also push ups involved, and I'll admit that I missed one push up, just to see Ranger perform one to perfection. Finally, the abdominal track. Last one before the cooling down. Ranger had positioned himself in such a way that every time we had to move up, he could see me, and I could see him. This made it fun, and now I didn't miss a move. At then end we all stretched out while laying on the ground, waiting for the last track to begin. It was a song that I liked for the words. And it also made me think of Ranger. He was the one who let me do things that I never thought possible. Whatever happened in the future, I would always be grateful for that. When stretching our legs, I almost fell, and he grabbed me with a hand to steady me. That's what I mean! The guy is perfect.

Afterwards we walked back to the office. We were quiet, but in a nice way. Suddenly he turned to me.

"Want to give dinner a second try tonight?"

"I thought you would want an early night?" He didn't sleep after all.

"One doesn't exclude the other." Husky voice and suggestive look. Mmm, interesting.

"Are you sure?" Burg upbringing.

"Yes."

"Than I'd like to have dinner with you tonight… again."

"Great, I'll let Ella know." So we were staying in tonight.

I couldn't wait.

Sorry about the delay, but something came up. I hope to finish it tomorrow with Friday's workout. Any mistakes in the description of the communication system is of course mine, sadly I'm no expert. Hope you enjoy it! Reviews are welcome!

Music used in the BodyPump lesson:

**BODYPUMP® 58** **(June 2006)**

**1**

I'll Be Your Light

Kristine W

**2**

Drop Dead Gorgeous

Republica

**3**

Love Shack

The B-52's

**4**

Riding On The Wings (Motiv8 Airplay Extended Mix)

Motiv8

**5**

Let's Get Down

Supafly vs Fishbowl

**6**

Stand By Me (Orig Mix)

Mr Timothy feat. Inaya Day

**7**

Breathe

One More Angel

**8**

Round And Round

BodyRockers

**9**

Intuition

Jewel

**10**

You Raise Me Up

Josh Groban


	5. Chapter 5

**Title: Work (it) out!  
Chapter 5: Easy riding!**  
**Author: Ann**  
**Rating:** (G to NC-17): G  
**Spoilers/Warnings: After TS**  
**Summary: Ranger does a week of working out Stephanie style**

**Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine. For more information on the workout-programs: **

**Number 5 for the Friday workout, which is RPM or Spinning. Sorry for the delay, RL interfered with my plan. So really separate from the books and other stories, here's a little fun for all of us! Hope it gives encouragement to go to the gym if you need it J. **

**PS: the description of the program is the current program of Les Mills, so anybody participating in these programs: you know what I mean! J**

**Easy riding!**

I woke up to the sound of an alarm beeping. And once again realised it wasn't my alarm. When nobody moved after 15 seconds of beeping I looked around me. I was in Rangers' bed, again, but without Ranger, … again. I felt very disappointed and started thinking about last night. What had happened. We had made another dinner date, and it was nice. Again. Ella made a lovely recipe which combined healthy stuff with great flavours, so we both like it a lot. There even was a piece of chocolate cake for me as dessert! After dinner we moved to the couch, and Ranger set down with a sigh. I knew he was tired. I mean: he was trained and all that, so he could probably last another couple of days with little sleep, but that didn't mean he didn't get tired when missing a full night. I went to the bathroom and when I came back, he was gingerly touching his face. His head laid back against the couch and his eyes were closed. He looked very attractive, and I felt myself get very warm in several places. I walked to the kitchen and wasn't surprised that his freezer had a nice stock of icepacks. I personally stack ice cream, but that's just a small difference between him and me. I found a clean kitchen towel, made it wet and then wrapped it around the icepack. I knew from experience that it was much more effective that way. And the cool wet cloth felt nice against a bruise. I walked to the couch again and gently lifted his hand away from his face. He opened his right eye to look at me, but didn't say anything. I placed the icepack over the bruise, and saw him flinch a little. Guess it was still sensitive after all the hours that went by since he got it. I replaced my hand with his own and put my hands on his shoulders, gently pushing him to sit forward a little. He moved a little and I started massaging his shoulders. Ranger didn't strike me as a guy who liked things soft, so I squeezed thoroughly. I could feel his muscles under my hands and realized his strength, it was amazing. After a few minutes of massaging I realised he hadn't made a sound, positive or negative. Maybe he didn't like it, so I stopped and started walking around the couch.

"Don't stop, Babe." I could have sworn Ranger almost purred. He looked up, taking the icepack away from his face for a moment.

"Am I doing it right?" From the looks of Ranger I was doing really well. Mmm, interesting: big, bad, black bounty hunter loves to get a back rub. It makes him go all soft inside…

"Babe." I made myself comfortable on the couch and tugged at Ranger to sit between my legs. He moved and I started rubbing again. I moved up to his neck, and I could almost feel him relax. His head was resting on his knees now, which he had pulled up, one hand holding the icepack against his face. He was very quiet, but it felt very comfortable. After his neck, I moved to his shoulders and then went down along his spine. I was about half way when he flinched and jerked forward.

"Sorry, did I hurt you?" I wonder what I did.

"I got a bruise there from this morning." I pulled his t-shirt out of his pants and moved it up. That was a bruise indeed. It wasn't very big, quite round but it looked very dark, even against his delicious mocha-latte skin colour.

"How did you get it?" I'm curious about anything and everything in life.

"When I opened a door, there was a guy waiting there with a chair in his hands. It was one of those iron garden chairs, you know, the little things that are only used for decoration?" Yeah, I knew what he meant, my mother had 2 in the back garden. They were very heavy to lift, but nobody trusted themselves enough to sit on them. Getting smacked over the head with them was probably not a very pleasant experience.

"This," he pointed at his face, "was the back of the chair, and this," he pointed at his back, "was one of the legs of the chair." Ouch, that must have been painful.

"You were lucky." He gave me a look.

"I mean: a little more to the right and he could have broken your back. A little more to the left and he could have broken a rib." It sounded logic to me. Ranger seemed to think about it.

"I'll ask him if a broken rib is better or worse than bruising." Ranger humour. He probably beat the shit out of the guy for hitting him twice.

"Do you have any more bruises that I should know about?" Mmm, somehow that didn't come out the way I thought it would…

"Babe." One word, so many meanings. He lifted his shirt over his head, and I checked for drool. Man, he looked good. I let my fingers slide over his back, gently feeling and watching for a sign of injury. His cargos were sitting low on his hips, and there was a bruise showing just above the waistline on his right hip. Apart from that, nothing on his back. I pulled him backwards by putting my hands on his shoulders and pulling him towards me and he let me. In the end his head was laying against my shoulder and my hands continued their journey over his body. I went down from his broad shoulders over his chest, moving towards his 6 pack abs. There was a small bruise on his right ribs, but that didn't look too bad. Excellent. I pushed him off me and got up.

"Wait here." His eyebrow went up. I just smiled and disappeared into his bedroom. I had been there often enough now that I knew where I needed to look. He usually had some type of massage oil in his bedside table. The label said: for relaxation. Perfect. I came back out of the room and ran straight into Ranger. I bounced off like a ball.

"Ranger! What are you doing here?"

"Babe." Small smile.

"You're no good at following orders, are you?" More smile. I pushed him back to the couch and poured some oil on my hands. I was just about to start when his phone rang. It was 9.30 pm, this probably wasn't a social call from Tank to say hi. With a sigh, Ranger got up from the couch and answered his phone. After a few words and some listening he ended the call and looked at me.

"I'm sorry, Babe, but this is an emergency that I have to deal with." Right…. Again!

And I suppose I fell asleep, again, and decided to get up and go home for a good shower and a change of clothes before I had to start work myself, again. I padded into his kitchen to find a note which said:

_Sorry about last night, one day we will get it right. See you in the office._

_Ranger_.

I hoped we would get it right one day, and I hoped that that one day was soon. I dressed and left his apartment. The ride home was quiet, not that many people around at 6.30 am. My apartment was quiet too, although my answering machine had something to tell me.

- Stephanie, when are you coming for dinner this week? Where are you? Hello? Stephanie? Call me! (My mother)

- Girl, are you okay? You haven't been home 2 nights in a row now. Got lucky with Batman? You go, girl. (Lula)

- Hey Cupcake, want to watch the game tonight? I'll buy Pino's and beer. Let me know! (Morelli)

- Stephanie, why aren't you home yet? Are you still working? Hello? Hello? I'm making pot roast on Saturday night… (sounds in the background) … date… bounty hunter… great package (grandma Mazur) See you Saturday. (my mother again)

I texted Morelli that I was sorry I missed the game, but that I didn't get the message on time. I deleted all the messages. I would call my mother later today and tell her I couldn't come on Saturday, but I would come on Monday. I had the sneaky suspicion that my sister would be there with all the kids and her husband, and I didn't feel up to that. After a nice, long shower and a good breakfast of poptarts I drove back to the office. It was 7.40 when I was sitting behind my desk. I was feeling a bit sleepy from the early start, but there was a definite buzz hanging in the air. So far, I had found out that there had been an attempt to break in at one the clients' houses. When a team responded, they found out it had been a decoy and soon the calls came in about a robbery at the other side of town, and that had just been the start of it. That was when they had called Ranger. And he had been running around ever since. After hours of hard work they had finally found out what the real target had been: Ranger's family. More precisely: Ranger's parents. Turns out someone wasn't happy with Rangeman. That wasn't really new, but this one was stupid enough to try and go after his family. From what I understood, the guy wouldn't be trying anything anytime soon. However, it left a lot of paperwork to deal with, since this guy had used 15 persons and had triggered 5 alarms before he actually went after Rangers' parents. Rangeman had responded to all calls and had called the police in as well. Ranger came back in around 8.00, looking tired and weary. I suppose having someone going after your parents does that to you. And working for over 50 hours straight probably had something to do with it as well. Poor guy.

After talking some of his team, he materialized near my cubicle.

"Hi Ranger."

"Hi."

"You're looking like shit." The hint of a smile formed at the side of his eyes and mouth.

"Thanks."

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired, but okay." The bruise on his cheek looked much darker today, and so were the lines under his eyes. His whole posture signalled fatigue. He drew a chair into my cubicle and slouched on it. He let his head fall back and sighed while his eyes were closed. I swivelled my chair around and started massaging his shoulders again.

"Mmmm." He almost purred and he moved forward a little. His elbows were resting above his knees, his hands hanging loosely, his eyes still closed. I took it as an invitation to massage his neck and back as well, mindful of the bruise I had discovered yesterday.

"Pity we didn't get to finish this yesterday." Ranger was thinking along the same lines as I was.

"Yeah."

"I would like to ask you over for dinner again tonight, but I'm almost afraid to see what will happen." He had a point there. But still…

"I'm sure a 3rd time will do it. You know what they say." Okay, I was fishing.

"Yeah." That wasn't really an answer, now, was it?

"Unless you're too tired. We could postpone it." But I really hoped it would be tonight. I felt closer to him now. And next week, when we wouldn't be going to the gym together anymore, things would be back to normal and then maybe this chance would not occur again. He didn't answer me straight away.

"We could eat at my place. I could prepare dinner." His eyebrow went up.

"Okay, I could order dinner." I amended.

"Okay, but I have to work until probably 7 or 8 pm. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, just call me when you're done."

"Okay." He put his hands over my hands where they were laying on his shoulders. With a sigh he got up and put the chair back in its place.

"I'd better start work then, if I have to finish before 8." He gave me a small smile and left.

At 9.45 I gathered my sports bag and left for the gym. I was almost 99 sure that Ranger wouldn't be there. He was very tired and very busy and today was a very tough workout. It was spinning. I liked it, but it was one of the most intensive workouts I had ever done. You felt great afterwards if you didn't fall off your bike, but I always felt half dead during most of it. But when I went in the room, Ranger was already warming up on a bike. The bike next to him was still available, surprisingly, since there were women in the room, and I quickly walked over to take that bike.

"Didn't think you would be here, after tonight."

"It's the last day, Babe, I couldn't give up now." He probably was used to a lot more during his time in the special forces, anyway.

I had seriously considered not going, but I wasn't going to win the discussion if I didn't do all the workouts that Steph normally did. And I sure as hell didn't want to go through another BodySteps lesson, so I figured I had better drag my ass over there. I wasn't feeling 100, but I had faced my fair share of physical challenges in the army, so this couldn't be that bad. I had never done it before, I'm not much of a cyclist. I liked running better. My ex had said that it was a tough workout and warned me to start easy. I had bought a bottle of sports drink for some extra energy, and basically hoped the best of it. Stephanie looked her best in a sportsbra and very short short. It showed off her body to perfection. I hoped that that would see me through this workout. Although, cycling with a hard on isn't really comfortable, so I stopped looking at her and thought some cool thoughts.

I don't remember that much of the workout. After the first track I was sweating big time and heard the words of my ex wife ringing in my ears. Shit, another 50 minutes to go. I tried to find my zone, and just went for it. After all the shit of the last two days, I could do with something that would really take my mind of things. Usually I would either go running, or would spar with Tank or Lester. This turned out to be a good third option. I got a bit of tunnelvision and felt lightheaded. We were doing interval training, climbing up hills and racing down. I forgot everything around me, only hearing the beat of the music that told us how fast we were supposed to paddle and the instructions of the trainer. I came down to earth again when we were finished with the cycling and had to get off the bike for some stretching. I almost fainted. It doesn't happen a lot anymore, so it took me by surprise. When we were going through intensive training in the army it wasn't unusual for us to faint after a very intensive training. On occasion I would still push myself to the limit, but this one was unintentional. Guess the sleep deprivation caught up with me. Steph saw me swaying and looked at me with worried eyes. I gave her a reassuring smile and drank the last of my sports drink. I felt empty, but great. Intensive exercise will do that to you.

I will continue with an Epilogue, to wrap things up. I think you can guess where it is going? Or maybe not ;)…. Hope you enjoyed it!


	6. Chapter 6

**Title: Work (it) out!  
Chapter 6: Epilogue**  
**Author: Ann**  
**Rating:** (G to NC-17): G  
**Spoilers/Warnings: After TS**  
**Summary: Ranger does a week of working out Stephanie style**

**Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine. For more information on the workout-programs: **

**The last one of my little "work out" series.** **Hope you enjoyed it. Best of luck to everybody who is trying to get in shape! J**

**Epilogue**

The beeping of an alarm woke me up from a very deep sleep. Mmm, I needed to think again. That beeping sounded suspiciously like Ranger's alarm… That would mean I was in Ranger's apartment again and since so far nobody had moved, I took it that Ranger wasn't here…. Again. Jeez, what did a woman need to do to get this guy into her bed? I mean: I kept him out of my bed for so many times and now that I wanted him there it seemed almost impossible! I hit the alarm and it stopped beeping and I rolled onto my back, thinking hard about yesterday. Let's see, I remembered the gym. He had been there, despite his fatigue. About halfway through the lesson I had noticed that he seemed to be in a world of his own, he was no longer looking around him and had this very concentrated look on his face. He found his zone. He was dripping with sweat and his clothes were soaked. There was nothing against that, actually. He wore a tight, black sleeveless t-shirt which now stuck to his every muscle and black shorts. Yummmmm! We were all soaked in sweat for that matter, but it didn't improve most people's looks. But with Ranger it did. I saw that every time the trainer said we had to increase the resistance Ranger did. Most of the time, especially towards the end, people would smuggle a little bit, and either increase only minimally, or not at all. On occasion I would decrease the resistance, so I would actually make it through the lesson without fainting, which I considered an important thing. Ranger didn't seem to agree, he increased his resistance with a lot, like he was a professional cyclist or something. I knew the guy was fit, but this was pushing it. Oh well, if he fainted I got to tease him with it for the rest of his life, so there's an advantage to everything I suppose. After we did the cooling down and we got of our bikes to do some final stretching, I saw Ranger swaying on his feet out of the corner of my eye. He better not really faint, because I sure as hell wasn't strong enough to catch him. But he gave me a reassuring smile, so I suppose he felt okay. He made it through stretching without further incident and we walked towards the locker rooms together.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Conversational wonder, this man.

"I thought for a moment I had to catch you." He just smiled. We had arrived at the doors leading to the locker rooms.

"Want to have a drink in the bar afterwards?" he asked.

"Yeah, that'll be nice."

"Okay, see you in 15 minutes there."

We drank energy drink to fuel up and talked about general things at the office. My search results were improving, and more and more Ranger would not only ask me to give him the facts, but also about my feeling about a certain person. He asked me if I would be interested in working more cases rather than just loose searches. It would mean I would still do searches, but on specific cases I would also be a part of the team assigned to find or investigate a person. Not only would I gather information from the computer searches, but also go out in the field and basically use my spidey sense to tell me how I felt about this person. I thought it sounded great. We went back to the office afterwards, where it was quiet. Ranger had given everybody who wasn't strictly needed off until 1 pm so they could catch up on some sleep. Lester, Bobby and Tank were still there though. That was something that I liked about Ranger too: his work ethic. Here were 4 guys who already made long hours, covering for their employees so they could catch up on some sleep. Ranger once said he did it because he knew that he could handle it and that he wanted his employees to be sharp when they were working. Also, he said, he didn't have a family at home and from what I understood, neither had Tank, Bobby or Lester. And then he had grinned at me and said: "being the boss, my salary depends on the profit that Rangeman makes. So the more profit, the richer I get. That's worth a few extra hours." It had made me curious as to what kind of profit Rangeman was making, but it seemed nobody knew. I knew that Ranger owned the majority of the shares, and that Lester, Tank and Bobby had a few, but Ranger could override them all on a decision if he wanted to. There were some investors who provided funds for a nice return I imagined, but they had no say in how the company was lead. Ranger was smart and he was an alpha personality. Nobody could tell him how to lead his life, nor how to lead his company.

It had been a quiet day, I did a lot of searches, and almost cleared my inbox by the end of the day, because not a lot of searches had come in. I was waiting for the computer to finish the last 2 when Ranger appeared in my cubicle.

"Babe, you won't believe it, but we have to work tonight." We?

"Who's we?"

"You, me and 2 guys for back up."

"Did I miss something?" As far as I knew, my work day ended at 6pm today. I had started earlier as well, so I was surprised to hear this bit of information.

"We need you to do a distraction tonight. Are you available?" He knew I was, since he asked me to have dinner with me and I had accepted. But nice of him to give me a chance to bail out.

"Yes. Who am I distracting?"

"Richard Winter. Wanted for murder. You want to be careful with this guy." Oh, great.

"And where am I distracting him?"

"A bar near Stark street." Great area, not.

"And at what time am I distracting him?"

"At around 8 pm tonight."

"And what do I put on to distract him?"

"Babe." I suppose that was my answer.

"I'll have to leave earlier today then, since I also need to eat before I get ready."

"No need. We can eat upstairs. You can drive over to your apartment now to pick up some clothes and get ready after dinner." He had it all figured out.

"Okay." I gathered some stuff and grabbed my bag. When I walked past Ranger he grabbed me and pulled me into a tight hug. It caught me by surprise because he usually didn't show much affection when his men were around. But I liked it all the same. I cuddled into him, my arms wrapped around his neck, my face in his neck inhaling his delicious scent. Our lips found each other and we started a kiss that turned into bonemelting kiss. I moved on to gently kiss his neck and nibbled at a soft spot just under his jaw. I felt his body respond and Ranger stilled.

"Babe." It sounded strained. Oops. I stopped the nibbling and gave him one last kiss on his cheek.

"Sorry." I followed that up with an apologetic smile and slipped past him. Tank was sitting at the monitors and turned his chair around when I walked past him.

"Thanks for that, bombshell. I finally have something to blackmail Ranger with." Oh my god, if Ranger heard that line I was on the first plane to Africa. I quickly checked my back, but it seemed Ranger was still in my cubicle so I hurried out of there.

I picked a nice red dress that I knew looked good on me. I selected underwear to go with it and went into the bathroom to select the products that I needed to look good for tonight. Shampoo, conditioner, razor and shaving gel, moisturizer, make up, brush. One last check to make sure I didn't forget anything vital. Oh, toothbrush and paste. Back in the bedroom I added stockings and red FMP's. And as a last minute decision I added some comfortable jeans and t-shirt. I threw it all in a bag and went back to the office. My computer had finished the searches and I started printing them. I checked my inbox and saw there were a few emails from Ranger and his men.

Hey Bombshell,

Great lip-action this afternoon. Could you make him loose an article of clothing next time? I'll split the pot with you!

Lester.

Hey Bomber,

Liked the way you handled Ranger this afternoon. Am I next?

Bobby.

Babe,

You ruined my reputation back there.

But I hope we can continue this tonight.

R.

It looked like everybody had seen the images of me kissing Ranger. Great. Well, nothing I could do about it now. Two new search requests had come in, and I started the programmes once again while I read through the results from earlier searches to see if I could find any inconsistencies. I forgot about time, so when I heard Ranger's voice behind me, it made me jump. It was already 6 pm and I still had to eat and get ready! I raced up to his apartment and ran straight into the bathroom to start the whole beautifying process. I washed my hair, shaved my legs, moisturized and dried my hair. I put on my super sexy red lingerie and then put on Ranger's robe. I was afraid I would spill some food on my dress, so I didn't want to put it on until we had to leave. When I opened the door of the bathroom, Ranger was laying on the bed. His legs stretched out in front of him. He was still fully clothed, and he was leaning against a pillow. And he was asleep. It was so cute that I stopped my race towards the kitchen for some food and slowly walked towards him. I sat down and looked at him. The tiredness showed more now that was asleep. I supposed it was because his face relaxed and he got a softer look on him. It probably didn't happen often to him that he fell asleep at a moment that he didn't want it to happen. I gently reached over and touched his face and the next thing I knew I was thrown on the bed, and Ranger had me pinned down.

"Uhm, Ranger? Are you okay?" He seemed to wake up completely now, and realisation dawned on him.

"Babe." He groaned. He rolled off me and was now laying on his back next to me.

"What was that all about?"

"Do you realise how dangerous that was?" he asked softly.

"What?"

"Approaching me without my knowledge?" He turned his head and looked at me, his eyes serious.

"Why?"

"Babe, I'm a trained ki…. Mercenary." Was he about to say what I thought he was about to say? I scooted away from him.

"Ehm, Ranger?" He looked at me and covered his eyes with his hands, rubbing his face.

"Nothing, Babe." I thought I was on to a definite something there, but decided to let it go since he looked so tired and didn't seem to want to talk about it. Suddenly he was on top of me again, but this time with a slightly different look in his eyes. The first time his eyes had been cold, ready to take out any threats. Now his dark brown eyes were dilated and hot. His robe had moved during his first attack on me and now the right side of my supersexy red lingerie was clearly showing.

"I like this. Is it new?" Ranger said while his finger skimmed the top of the bra.

"Y-y-yes." Was all I could say. His mouth came crashing down on mine and I relived the moment of this afternoon. I heard myself moaning and Rangers hands were everywhere and I was thinking that this would not end at the dinner table when the door to Rangers bedroom opened.

"Ran…" It was Ella. Ranger was off me faster than lightning, leaving me exposed. I quickly closed the robe and sat up. Ella was blushing and so was I. And wait a minute, so was Ranger! Wow!

"Ella. It's okay." Yeah right.

"Ehm, well… I just came to say… ehm… dinner's ready." Ranger gave her a nice smile.

"Thank you." Ella closed the door behind her, clearly glad she was able to leave again. Ranger fell backwards onto the bed and closed his eyes once again.

"I'm never going to get through this day. First we get caught on camera by Tank and now Ella catches us. My mother will know within 5 minutes."

"Your mother?"

"Yeah, Ella is my aunt. She is a sister of my mother." He rubbed his face again with his hands, sighing deeply.

"Oh, great." I hoped that this little incident wouldn't reach my mother.

"Come on, let's have dinner." And he took another look at me in the robe.

"And you better make sure that you keep that robe closed or I won't be held responsible for my actions."

I grumbled something, but got up and tied the rope carefully around my waist.

After dinner we left for the bar and I did my thing. The guy followed me out like a dog would follow a bone. Ranger made the capture and the backup team drove him to the station. Then we returned to his apartment, and his answering machine was blinking. Ranger looked at it and swallowed.

"My mother." Was all he said. Boy, did I know that feeling.

"Is the big, bad bounty hunter afraid of his mother?" I teased him. Dangerous, I know, but great fun. I got a dirty look from him and he sighed while pushing the button to hear the message.

"Carlos, what is this I hear from Ella? Do you have a girlfriend? Why haven't we met her? I expect you to introduce her soon! Hello? (some mumbling in Spanish) Call me, Carlos."

"Right." Was all he said. He deleted the message and got himself a bottle of water from the fridge. He offered me one, but I declined.

"Is it okay to use your bathroom again? I would like to change and get some of this make up off."

"Need some help?" Yes.

"No, it won't take long."

Ranger was stretched out on the couch watching tv when I came back. I had put my jeans and t-shirt on, and my hair still looked great. He opened his arms and I snuggled close to him. It felt heavenly.

"Ranger, what do you want from me?"

"Babe?"

"Well, I have finally figured out what I would like from you, but I want to know how you feel about me." I figured that, since his phones were still turned on, I better get straight to it.

"So what is it that you want from me?" Chicken! He did everything to postpone telling me how he felt. But I felt brave, so I took a deep breath and started.

"I'm in love with you, Ranger. And I realised that I want to have a relationship with you. I know it won't be easy, your life is difficult, and you are not the easiest person, but I want to try. I'm not the most conventional person either, and I think together we could be great. But…" and I took another deep breath for this part.

"… we need to make sure that we want the same thing. I don't need a marriage, but I do need a commitment. And I need a certain level of disclosure. You have to trust me enough to let you into your life and tell me where you are and what you are doing. I understand it if you can't tell me every detail of what's going on, but leaving town for 2 weeks without an explanation isn't going to cut it anymore. Not if you want to have a relationship with me." I slowly turned around in his arms to face him. He looked back at me with a serious look in his eyes.

"Babe," he said softly. I waited patiently for more. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I'm in love with you too. And I do want to try a relationship with you. I have been looking for a good moment to tell you all week, but it's been a little crazy. There will be more weeks like this, that I have to cancel dates and …" he stopped at this moment, looking a bit lost. He wanted to say something, but didn't know how to say it. I felt so happy inside, so warm and elated. I couldn't believe I heard the words from his mouth. I had heard them so often in my dreams, and I had wished so often that he would say them to me, but to actually hear him say them, wow, that was the best thing I ever heard. I felt a deep feeling of love settle in me for this man. Ranger was still struggling to find the right words to say to me. I gently kissed his lips.

"Shhh, we'll figure it out." I kissed him again, a little more passionate this time and he responded. Soon I was laying on top of him, kissing passionately.

"Do you still wear that sexy red lingerie?"

"Why don't you find out?"

"Babe." His eyes were dilated, black pools and his voice was extremely low and very sexy. He lifted me up and carried me to the bedroom. He was standing at the edge of the bed with me still in his arms when his phone rang. I think we both immediately deflated like a balloon. Ranger screamed in frustration, and so did I.

"Can't you let it go to voicemail?" I asked hopeful.

"No, I told them I was not to be disturbed except for emergencies." He gently laid me on the bed and grabbed the phone.

"What?" He answered it.

After another couple of one-word answers he ended the conversation and sighed deeply while looking at me.

"You won't believe this. Lester is being held hostage."

"What?"

"He was driving home when he saw a woman with her car at the side of the road. So he pulled over to see if he could help and she put a gun to his head."

"What does she want?"   
"Well, that's the problem. She isn't entirely sane right now, and it seems she has a grudge against men in general. The police is already at the scene and Tank and I will have to go too."

"Can I do something?"

"No, not really. Will you wait for me here? I'd really like to finish what we started… hell, 3 days ago." I had to smile at the frustration that was clearly showing in his face.

"I'll be here. Call me if anything happens."

"Okay." One more thorough kiss and he was gone.

He hadn't called and I fell asleep in his bed around midnight, only to be woken up by his alarm at 5.45 am. I wondered if it was good news or bad that he still hadn't returned. I used the bathroom and padded into the kitchen to drink a glass of water. In the end I went back to bed, I couldn't think of anything else I could do. But I couldn't sleep anymore. I tossed and turned, but the last couple of days kept playing in my mind. So much had happened. And I felt very happy about the things that happened, and even happier about the things that were about to happen. Ranger and I were together! I hardly could believe it, but it was true. And then I heard a sound at the door. I waited, my ears straining to hear more. I heard the sounds of keys being tossed in the dish in the hallway and knew Ranger had returned. Soft footsteps towards the bedroom door. The door slowly opened and Ranger walked in, still wearing his SWAT outfit and full utility belt. He saw I was awake and gave me a tired smile. He sat down on the edge of the bed and I put my arms around his neck from behind.

"Well?" I hadn't been able to read anything from his face.

"The police shot the woman when she started shooting."

"Did Lester get hurt?"

"He got a bullet in his shoulder, but no permanent damage done."

"And the woman?"

"She's still in hospital, but will survive." He was quiet for a few moments.

"She was extremely irrational. I don't think she'll even go to prison, but straight to a mental healthcare facility. She had some bad experiences with men in the past and decided men in general were no good and had to pay for that. Lester was the unlucky one to pull over." I tugged at his vest and he allowed me to take it off him. His utility belt was next. The fact that he didn't get up to put his guns away in the gun locker showed how tired he was. I put his guns in the closet and locked them safe.  
"Thanks, Babe." I smiled at him and started unlacing his boots. His socks were next, followed by his t-shirt and the communication system he still had plugged in his ear and attached to his pants. His pants were last to come off and he was indeed going commando. I pulled him up and gently pushed him into the bathroom. I pushed him towards the bath and he stepped in, sitting down. I turned on the water and when it was nice and warm I opened the tap fully. Soon the bath was half full and I turned on the showerhead that was hanging above the bath. I wet his hair and found a bottle of shampoo. I gently soaped his hear while he leaned back in the tub.

"MMmm, I can get used to this." He murmured. Me too. I rinsed his hair and grabbed a sponge and put on some Bulgari and started washing him. There was a suspicious red stain on his hand and when I looked at him with questioning eyes he said:

"That is Lester's blood. I applied pressure to the wound until the paramedics took over." I washed it all away and asked him to get up. When he stood I sprayed him one last time and wrapped him in a fluffly towel and led him to the bed. I dried him off and he slid into the bed with a content sigh. I snuggled next to him.

"Thank you, I needed that."

"My pleasure." I gave him a sweet kiss. Suddenly I had a wicked thought.

"So, what do you think, was I right?" I could see the question mark forming on his face.

"About the workouts?" I knew this wasn't completely fair, but well, with Ranger being so tired I had the best chance of him agreeing with me.

"Babe, this week just about killed me. I can't keep up anymore." Nice, but not good enough.

"But was I right?" He looked pained, like he didn't really wanted to say it.

"Yeah Babe, you were right. Your workout regiment is just as good as mine." He ended with a deep sigh. I gave him a loving smile and gently started kissing him. Soon we were completely entangled.

"Listen, I would really like to continue where we left off last night, but I am afraid I will fall asleep. I'm really sorry."

"No problem, Ranger. Get some sleep. We've got all the time in the world now." He seemed to think about those words and then his face broke into a 1000 watt smile.

"Yes Babe, we do."

The end!


End file.
